That's What They're Good At.

I want to climb the Tower.

I want to go to a Tower that doesn't have to give me [Attack Skills], where it says, "Welcome, Wakamo~ We'll prepare a monster for you, so eat up," and provides me with content.

Today, as a VTuber, I'm officially creating content and streaming.

I'm doing what other VTubers do: broadcasting with a 3D model supported by a platform.

What will I look like on the other side of the screen? How will I look from the perspective of someone watching a VTuber?

'This is dangerous. It's only a good thing I don't breathe.'

If this body had needed to breathe, there was a very real chance I might have suffocated from the pressure at this point.

I always say that VTubers are dreams and romance.... But let's talk about it in corporate, professional terms. I had become enough of a 【pro】 to confidently call myself a 『VTuber corporation』 now.

The order had been reversed, but I had proven myself, received support from the Climber Association, and was now streaming as the entity running the 『VTuber industry』.

The 0th-generation member known as the commander of the legendary Virtual Live.

An unbelievable, miraculous success story that began when I went to the company's president hand in hand with my manager friend and said I wanted to become a VTuber idol.

A legendary success story in which, never giving up, believing in the girls' dreams and shedding tears with them, they built the foundation themselves alongside the VTubers from nothing and ultimately became the best top-tier company!!

The president of Virtual Live has also attracted attention as a business executive, ranking third in the "Japanese Entrepreneur Rankings 2023," and he said that by singing and performing, VTubers were talents and artists in their own right, not merely characters.

In fact, most of the VTubers belonging to Virtual Live Productions possess considerable skill, and their popularity has expanded beyond the internet and Japan into the real world, making live events for thousands of people possible and even producing clear achievements such as songs entering the US Billboard charts.

And as their presence became known to the public and their fame grew, Virtual YouTubers with few viewers also benefited as more newcomers came in.

Admiring them, people make original songs, collaborate with the VTubers they look up to, and eventually get to stand on a huge dreamlike stage and sing. Fans enjoy watching and supporting their gradual growth as they pursue and achieve their dreams and goals.

That could be called the representative image of the VTubers racing through this era. Though only a tiny handful ever succeed.

There is a reason people say you should join a major company.

'It's a profession born in an age when broadcasts can be watched anywhere. It blossomed in the land cultivated by Japanese anime and games.'

The fact that it had become common for individuals to own smartphones and watch whatever videos they liked probably played a part too. Accessibility also increased because generations who had grown accustomed to anime began appearing, even though people had once been teased as otaku just for watching it.

'If a VTuber succeeds, they can make money. This is the character business of the new era. It's like Disney's Mickey Mouse.'

A VTuber's strength is that they can function as character IP, unlike real-life entertainers.

They can also pursue merchandising strategies like anime characters, including licensing partnerships and releasing merchandise.

What is important in anime, too? The fans.

VTubers, whose business model is so-called B2C, or Business to Customer, earn more from viewer donations on platforms and membership fees—fan-club dues—than from advertising revenue. Merchandise, if anything, is often for those fans.

So they work hard to attract fans from various demographics through live events, collaborations with companies, collabs, joint streams, and so on.

From a company's perspective, it would be better to develop avatars and broadcasting systems for VTubers and provide corporate-to-corporate B2B support, including management, planning and operating live performances, and licensing partnerships.

To put it bluntly, I should now be visiting other VTubers and playing at the level of a corporate VTuber, not just doing collabs.

But there are viewers who get furious even when a Korean VTuber merely does a collab with a Japanese VTuber. I'd be causing them trouble?

Then I guess I should die, what else?

I suppose I'll have to say I won't do collabs even if it kills me.

The conclusion I reached after organizing my thoughts was that 【the key to business success is building a 'fandom'】.

There are people who have loved the same anime for thirty years. This is no longer an age when it's strange to watch the same VTuber, talk about them, and chatter together.

"The motion-capture studio cost approximately 20 billion won. That excludes personnel costs for staff and producers."

"Whaaa...."

Is this.... my company...? I... have finally become a VTuber otaku who achieved my dream, wawa.... Hawa-wa....

──But the thought that the bastards who targeted me might terrorize this place too made my head go cold. If they attacked this building, it would be no different from a death threat against every VTuber's dream, so there would be no need to let them live.

If that happens, don't expect mercy from my fists. You were the ones who kicked that dream away...!!

"For now, on paper, it's called『Wakamo Corporation』."

"Pretty standard..."

Does it mean Wakamo's company? I was the representative, so... I was the boss, so... I was the face of the company, so... I was an existence on the same level as the ideal VTubers I admired...?

This is dangerous.... At this rate, my mental state will really break and I'll die...!!

"The building has three floors in total. The top floor is a residential area, the second floor consists of a motion-capture studio, and the first floor has soundproof booths and VTuber rooms for broadcasting... something like that. It was built near the Climber Association for safety, and I can confidently say that its security systems are the best in South Korea. There's also a parking lot underground, as well as an emergency passage for evacuation if necessary."

"I see... But from a risk-management standpoint, wouldn't it be better to keep the residential area separate?"

"Haha, the Climber Association is backing us, remember?"

Wakamo was worried that everyone would realize she was that VTuber when she left the studio building, exposing her identity. But the manager laughed and said there was not the slightest chance of that happening. Why was it...? Why were there strangely no crowds on the streets around the building? The government is more impressive than I thought~

"Boss, you look like a weal pwo. So smawt! You even know difficult words like mew-chandising."

"I had no idea the President—or the Association chairman—had this much power... Aren't they on bad terms with each other?"

Well, it was probably needless worry. Did a VTuber really need to concern herself with government affairs? Thinking something crazy like, Wasn't the assassin sent by the President? was ridiculous, surely.

Anyway, that's enough about the company. Manager Won Da-hye would run it in the role of president anyway, while I only needed to focus on climbing the Tower and streaming as a VTuber. I couldn't exactly transfer to another job, but so what? I just needed to be happy that a motion-capture studio had been built, shouting, Yay!!

"You lot, behold!! My name is Wakamo Inarizushi. At long last, I have a studio!! Today is a full 3D broadcast!!"

"Hi, fwends! I'm Hajime Ichigo. I'm Wakamo Cowpowation's pawtnew."

-Welcome, Yamada.

-My drug has arrived...

-The mother-daughter comedy routine begins!!

-Sounds like the host fought an assassin, but she looks fine.

-Wow, amazing! The 3D model looks exactly like the real thing!!!

-Ichigo's going to grow up... I don't like that....

-Manager, please ban the pedo bastard above.

-That really is a nightmare!!!!

-There sure are a lot of crazy bastards here.

-I wish she'd stream every day.

The room, with a mirror that showed the backs of the characters, was arranged like a practice room where idol trainees danced and worked up a sweat. Viewers came flooding in as soon as the broadcast started because it was a collab. Since it was their first full 3D live studio collab, they had no choice but to stream only on Wakamo's channel.

If Ichigo started her stream too, Wakamo might get distracted responding to the donations flying in and the broadcast could become dull.

Before starting, they took time to promote the models of the equipment they were using and tell the other VTubers that there were good products available domestically, often at discounts.

-The host's intentions are genuinely transparent...

-Is this a VTuber equipment advertisement stream? Or a promotion?

-Either way, the host once did a seven-hour stream about VTuber equipment, yeah.

-No, how long have these bastards been watchingㅋㅋㅋ

-Ah... could you call me an ancient believer? I made a killing buying at the bottom.

-Wow! Then did you buy coins too?

-I'm an idiot for not buying.

-Seeing you here, I thought you might be.

-Ichigo is so cute I'm dying.

She had come to watch a VTuber broadcast, not equipment promotions or advertisements, so it would have been fair for them to complain. But they knew how utterly obsessed with VTubers Wakamo Inarizushi was and how she couldn't live without them, so they let it slide.

Meanwhile, seeing viewers react, "I wanted to become a woman through 『Virtual Chat』, but I guess I absolutely have to buy one!!", Wakamo responded awkwardly, "Th-that is possible too..." and the viewers burst out laughing.

She hesitantly tried to say that men being able to broadcast as women was also a strength, struggling somehow to mention only advantages, and the viewers teased her for a long time over how funny it was.

During the explanation, some viewers were also delighted to watch Hajime playing by herself, cutely dancing with an aloof, prim expression while swaying her hips from side to side.

Wakamo's advertising had half failed because Hajime looked like an innocent child unable to endure boredom while her mother(?) worked beside her, running around in every direction.

"You bastards... you're all watching only Ichigo!!"

-I was looking at the host's boobs too!!

-I definitely wasn't counting the moles!!

-I absolutely did not think her toes were sexy.

-Host, the equipment is sold out. Is this okay?

-The males bewitched by a fox and turned into women depart for the metaverse again today....

-So this was a broadcast promoting low birth rates.

-I'm a virgin who can't date anyway, so wouldn't it be better to become a woman?

-No, believer... don't cross that river....

-Eek, I'm late! I'm already a woman!

-The world really is ending, fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋ

"Well... I wasn't expecting much anyway. But now that we have a studio, VTubing means singing and dancing, doesn't it!!"

-Ah, stop.

-P-please stop.

-Guys, cover your ears! The host is fucking terrible at singing—this is an emergency.

-N-no, how bad can she beㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-How bad could she possibly be?

-Something suddenly came up and I'm extremely busy, so I'm going to run away, fuck!!!

-Emergency escape!! Emergency escape!!!!

-Emergencyaaaaaaaay!!!!

Five minutes later.

-Please save me, fuck.

-Stop stop stop stop stop.

-It's daytime, but I feel like a ghost is going to appear!!!!

-Is this a curse? Did the host curse me???

-Are the pitch, beat, and melody really all destroyed, fuck???

-The gyudon knight next door sounds like a heavenly songstress.

-Even Gian would probably sing better than you....

-Wow, this is truly awful.

-Why does this feel like school-retreat PTSD?

-That feeling when you're dragged onto a stage against your will, sing desperately, and completely screw it up....

-It got so fucking cold that I turned off the air conditioner....

-As a human being, I can't applaud this, fuck.

-So the ghostly sounds in the mountains were the host's singing, fuck.

Manager Won Da-hye was trembling with her eyes half-rolled back, while the staff shuddered in shock. The producer's face had gone white, and his expression was twisted because he had no idea what to do. Wakamo had sung with all her strength, doing her best, but had it really been that horrifying?

When she turned her head, Yu Ying was covering her ears, taking deep breaths, and trembling. It seemed like horrible torture for someone with sensitive hearing.

-Why is Ichigo trembling so pitiful...

-"I have good ears!" Ah.... I can't watch this....

-This has gone beyond a worker's misery—it's the abuse of a minor....

-What are you going to do about the owner's risk!!!!

-The child can't breathe.....

Wakamo picked her up, hugged her, and patted her back, somehow calming her down. I will never sing again....

"Wuhuhuh.... But... I did sing pretty hard..."

-We can't even call this a funeral song.

-We can't be the only ones who suffer. Let's clip it and spread it.

-The clipper's will continues...!!

-And so it begins...! The unstoppable new era of video donations!!

-Isn't this at a level where we could get sued, though...?

-....I guess it is.

-The host is tearing up, but I don't feel sorry for her at all.

-No, fuck. There's a limit. My parents came in while I had porn playing.

-Something so horrifying that porn would be preferable.

-It was bad enough to make me think she was summoning a demon in the room.

"No, I know it was bad too.... Then, how about our Ichigo sing!"

"Yesh! Fwends, what should I sing?"

Viewers flooded the chat with comments about how cute she was as she approached the screen with sparkling eyes, her eyes darting up and down as though checking the viewers' comments. She had moved closer because her eyesight was poor, but since it was a 3D model live broadcast, the camera itself had come closer too.

It was practically a broadcasting accident, but it was cute in its own way, so everyone watched with warm smiles as Ichigo gripped the microphone in her hand and began singing while swaying from side to side.

-Huh...? Why am I tearing up...?

-My ears are being healed...

-What I control is music. The melody resounding in your ears will steal your heart away..

-Is this... Ichigo's Bankai...?

-Why is her pronunciation fine when she sings? Why can she sing well? Why is she a songstress?

-The host really picked up a kid with incredible talent!!!

-Now that I look again, she seems like a fairy!!!!

-Maybe she sounds better because the gap is so fucking hugeㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Is this the host's broadcasting ability...? I was com.plete.ly. tricked.

-Ahㅋㅋㅋ That's what it wasㅋㅋㅋ

"Wuhuhuhuh"

Wakamo sobbed because Ichigo sang so well. Her body could not even produce tears, but she was intensely moved anyway.

"Our Ichigo sings well, right?"

-Yes, ma'am.

-Your daughter has the makings of a songstress.

-It's a good thing she doesn't have her mother's genes.

-If she had the genes, she'd probably be 180 centimeters tallㅋㅋ

-How can a person's height be 156ㅋㅋㅋ

-She seems to sing much better than expected??

"Indeed, at this level, I think it would be fine for her to do an original song or a cover song."

She had the talent to genuinely succeed. Her pronunciation was still clumsy, but when singing she put strength behind her voice and articulated clearly in time with the beat, so everything came through properly. That was a gap of its own.

The expressions of the staff, producer, and managers, relieved after seeing Ichigo's singing ability, were a little melancholy because they looked as though they had seen a savior.

She might not have been able to sing, after all.....

-Someone needs to oil her joints...

-Are you saying you didn't feed the kid...?

-Isn't she moving way too limply?

-Correct! Modern dance!

-As long as she's cute, that's enough.

Unfortunately, Ichigo was not very good at dancing. Her body was flexible and nimble, but how should one put it? Her movements were incomprehensible. Her limp movements looked almost as though she wanted to loaf around because she did not feel like working.

On the other hand, as one could tell just by her hand-to-hand combat skills, Wakamo danced while opening a fan with nothing but a flick of her wrist, accompanied by a fluttering sound, and holding a golden thread. Her expression did not change at all, but that instead made the believers mistakenly think she was dancing seriously.

She was only roughly imitating the fan dance she had seen before coming, but the large, fluid movements combined with the fan's splendor produced unexpected synergy.

-Is it going to rain tomorrow?

-"The Dance of Ritual"

-Is this the dance of a forgotten tradition...?

-It isn't boisterous and is almost static, but you can feel that the dance itself has become the subject.

-So this is what a dance that isn't meant to be shown is like~

-Host, show us a little instrument performance too, will you?

"Should I?"

Since she danced well, the viewers began enjoying themselves. Yes, yes!! This was the response she wanted.

She had asked the manager to prepare an instrument in advance, so when she asked her to bring it, the manager returned with a confident expression and a gayageum.

I had definitely asked her to bring a string instrument.... Why a gayageum of all things.... I would have been confident playing a violin or guitar. When I accepted it with a slightly dubious expression, the manager looked at Wakamo worriedly, as if asking whether she had made a mistake.

I couldn't disappoint my hardworking manager...

'Phew, it's a good thing I tried it in a club. I even performed onstage at the school festival, so shall I give it a try after all this time?'

Honestly, who keeps a gayageum at home? Recalling what she had learned long ago, she sat cross-legged and placed it on her lap. Admiring the thorough preparation that had even included modeling the gayageum, she focused her mind, thinking it would be disastrous if she messed this up.

Ding ding─♪

A clear yet wistful sound spread along the strings. The melody was so beautiful and stirred their emotions so strongly that the viewers forgot even to chat and lost themselves in listening.

She did not know what feelings she was putting into the performance, but Wakamo's skill at playing the OST of a fairly famous historical drama was excellent.

Her skill had not faded, since she had shown herself playing various instruments for a long time.

-I suddenly feel like I've transcended time.

-She can't keep the beat when singing, so why is she good at playing instruments...?

-No matter how hard you try, you can't overcome what you're born with....

-Ah... how sad....

-Ah, this drama is good...

-What's the title, then?

-There's one called Chuno, about hunting slaves.

-That sounds like it would be a terribly bad fit....

-You don't know this? Good grief... kids these days...

-Ah, grandpa, be quiet. Don't you know concert etiquette?

-Ichigo's asleepㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Wow, look at her wrapping her tail around herㅋㅋㅋ

-Please employ me too, I beg you...

-Wow, the whole screen itself is healing.

-Oh, I'm sleepy... my eyes are closing...

Drowsy from the music, Ichigo naturally lay down as though burying herself in Wakamo's tail and fell asleep. She had every right to be tired after streaming diligently every day.

Thinking she had played for a suitably long time and could end things here for today, Wakamo smiled and drew her tail closer to cradle her, while the gayageum's song rang out alongside soft, steady breathing.

Moreover, the manager had somehow brought a haegeum and a danso as well and was waiting with a broad smile blooming across her face.

Wakamo wondered whether this was really okay... but the first live broadcast at the studio continued, having accidentally turned into a performance of traditional Joseon instruments.

'It's a good thing I joined that club.'

Wakamo thought it was fortunate that people really ought to try everything at least once. But the viewers and manager alike could only marvel, thinking, As expected of someone from that era...! It would be difficult to say she was good enough to reach that level, but a performance by a fox god from a thousand years ago had enough advantages to make up for that shortcoming.

With Ichigo, like a daughter, nestled in her tail and sleeping comfortably while she played for the child, Wakamo took on the appearance of a mother, and new viewers began to flock in....

Wakamo could only wonder whether this was really right.